Early night had fallen by the time the pair, both donned in matching traveller’s cloaks, arrived on the doorstep of a discrete looking building. After a short exchange, they were escorted inside. The air was thick with incense, and strangely warm. It was dim, lit mostly by hanging red lanterns lining either side of the hallway. Deep dark woods and rich red lacquered accents were used to give an appearance of “refined luxury” but only posed to create a darker, heavier and more stifling atmosphere. They passed a few sliding doors. The shadows of figures in the bright rooms beyond were cast in clarity on the semi-transparent paper lining. Curves of well endowed women with finely shaped arms and legs, long and elegant with dainty wrists and delicate fingers. Their shadows moved as they did, with movements smooth as flowing water and brimming with seductive allure. Imagery meant to entice. Lu Qinyi seemed to have a particular dislike for it however, pulling his hood down to further hide his eyes. Fei Li observed neutrally as he followed only a step behind him. Fei Li had to be mindful of his steps or he might catch the flowing fabric pooling past his ankles, but Lu Qinyi was conscious of this already and walked at a slower pace.
It was extremely quiet in these halls. There would be the occasional giggle, or muffled sounds of talking, however it was almost as unnerving to hear as the silence was.
Lu Qinyi suddenly paused. He stepped towards one of the sliding doors that was open just a peek.
“Are you interested, Sir? She is quite popular these days.” Their escort said with a knowing look to his eyes.
Only Fei Li caught a look of the way Lu Qinyi’s lips twitched unhappily beneath his hood as he returned to them. “I’m here for other business.” Lu Qinyi’s voice had taken on a raspy, scratchy quality and lowered a pitch, making it difficult to recognise for those who might have been familiar with it. Lu Qinyi apparently had used this trick when getting into mischief in his youth. Strong tea brewed from a particularly bitter fruit, it was particularly distasteful and left your throat feeling uncomfortably irritated and dry, but it had a near immediate impact on one’s voice. It would return to normal after some time, but for the time being it served as one of the precautions they had taken to obscure Lu Qinyi’s identity. They had also slicked his hair with a dark tar-like sustenance often used by dancers to keep elaborate hairstyles in place, and darkened the fairness of his skin with makeup. Anyone who had known him closely could recognise his facial structure and his eyes, however it would fool the vast majority.
“Of course.” The escort replied and chuckled. “Perhaps tomorrow then.”
Fei Li glanced at Lu Qinyi simply for the satisfaction of watching his lips twitch uncontrollably again.
“Please enter this room. Lord Fu is awaiting you.”
Lu Qinyi hastily stepped over the threshold to escape the perfumed rooms and their inciting giggles as fast as possible. And indeed, the lord of this house of flowers was indeed waiting.
He was named Lord Fu Fu, using the character for ‘wealth’ for both. He had likely selected this name himself as he created a new identity when he took over the establishment. Someone who desired to be rich and wealthy to such an excessive and ridiculous point, he likely thought such a name would bring good fortune.
Lu Qinyi lowered the hood of his cloak. He exchanged greetings before seating himself. He then summoned Fei Li over with a wave and gestured for him to be seated, playing their respective roles of patron and courtesan.
Fu Fu immediately began eyeing Fei Li, who seated himself as he had been taught, with his eyes downcast and his hands rested in his lap. Lu Qinyi assisted Fei Li to remove the cloak from his shoulders and folded it neatly over his own lap.
“So this is him? What a unique air he has to him, it’s almost dignified! Ho ho, I can see why you would treasure him so much.” Fu Fu praised and stretched out a greedy hand across the low table, as if he wanted to raise Fei Li’s chin for a closer look. He hadn’t even come close before Lu Qinyi grabbed his wrist.
Lu Qinyi smiled shallowly at the man across from them. “I don’t recall giving you permission to touch him. I’m quite particular, you see. He is my favourite afterall.” He squeezed Fu Fu’s wrist as a final warning before releasing it. “It is a privilege for paying customers only, I’m sure you understand.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Of course.” Lu Qinyi replied smoothly. Without even looking over, he subtly slid his hand over the top of the cup of wine Fei Li had been about to raise to his lips. After blocking Fei Li from drinking from it, Lu Qinyi quietly moved the cup out of reach.
…Wasn’t it a bit much to be suspicious about a cup of wine? Fei Li felt the urge to frown, so with a brush of his thumb, he flicked out the black fan he had been gifted and raised it to hide the lower half of his face.
“An is obedient with an easy personality and mild temperament. He speaks little and complains less, you’ll find he’s quite agreeable. He’ll do anything you want with the right encouragement. He also learns quickly, so it isn’t difficult to teach him new tricks.”
…Exactly who is obedient here? An was the fake name they had given to Fei Li. It was the norm for courtesan’s to be given a more suitable name after they debuted or when changing owners. The fan obscured Fei Li’s displeasure at how he was being discussed.
“I see, I see.” Fu Fu clearly had a growing interest judging by the gleam in his eyes. “And what of his… purity?”
Lu Qinyi’s expression and tone remained even as he replied with the charm of a professional swindler. “There’s no purity to speak of, but it would be better to describe him as ‘experienced’.”
…Could he not have simply lied about it? Perhaps with Fei Li’s age and gender, it would not have been as believable, he didn’t seem like a fresh faced male courtesan experiencing their first time in the world. But it was incredibly uncomfortable having someone openly discuss his private life like that. He glanced at the cup of wine Lu Qinyi had moved, but as if sensing Fei Li’s intentions to take it back, Lu Qinyi casually moved his hand around the cup.
“Experienced, you say! Then what of his skills-”
The door to the room was shoved open abruptly.
“Lord Fu! Fire! There is a fire!” A servant announced and behind him you could already hear the growing sounds of panic.
“W-what?! How can that be?” Lord Fu bowed his head before throwing back a cup of wine and hurriedly standing. “Esteemed guests, please forgive my rudeness. Do not be alarmed. I will go check the situation and return soon!” The two left in such a hurry that they didn’t even shut the door. Lu Qinyi could see the faint creeping of ashy grey tendrils of “smoke” creeping along the floors and so he casually stood up and threw Fei Li’s cloak over his arm.
“That would be our sign to go.” Lu Qinyi held out to help Fei Li stand. Fei Li chose to stand up on his own however.
“Will the distraction last long enough?” Fei Li asked.
“The smoke from that ball won’t last long, but the panic will. I dropped it directly into a courtesan’s room, she has surely started to freak out already. Tales of a fire in the building will spread out of control and every resident will be in a panic and trying to flee in no time. It should give us plenty of cover, but we should move quickly anyway.”
They followed the hallways deeper into the building, but it was as if it were built like a rabbit’s warren with many offshooting hallways. They paused at the end of the first branching hallway. Light filtered through paper walls and distant sounds of laughter could be heard from the rooms that lined it. They continued on, looking for quieter, darker and less populated areas until they caught the gaze of a passerby. They were at the other end of a long stretching hallway, but they had clearly noticed the two as the person paused their steps. Lu Qinyi and Fei Li were not meant to be this deep inside the building as the tea rooms for guests were towards the front. This area was clearly more private. It wouldn’t be good if the person came closer and noticed that these two hadn’t been seen here before and so Lu Qinyi acted first. He grabbed Fei Li and pushed him back against the wall before snatching the fan from him. He flicked it open and used it to obscure their faces. He leaned in close, giving them an appearance closer to two lovers daring to steal a kiss in a hallway. However, Fei Li, although he wisely didn’t object, didn’t catch on quickly enough either. He seemed to be a little thrown off by the sudden situation the two were in. Lu Qinyi was very close.
Lu Qinyi’s brows furrowed and he lightly pressed his fingers into Fei Li’s side to draw the other’s attention back to him. He mouthed two words at first. Your hands.
Fei Li gave him a confused look.
Lu Qinyi glanced over the edge of the fan to the person still paused at the other end of the hallway, assessing them. There was urgency in Lu Qinyi’s expression as he mouthed again. Hug me, idiot.
Fei Li finally realised the problem. What kind of lover’s embrace had one person with their arms stiffly at their sides? He moved his arms around Lu Qinyi’s neck.
For a few tense moments, the only sound they could hear was the shallow sound of their breathing and distant sounds of life from the hallways they had passed.
Finally, the other person seemed convinced they were simply a pairing who had been too impatient to wait until they had reached a room. They grew uninterested and continued walking the adjacent hallway, disappearing out of sight.
Lu Qinyi drew back, snapping the fan shut before pushing it back into the sash at Fei Li’s waist. He then turned on his heel and continued walking like nothing happened.
Fei Li, whose heartbeat was still skyrocketing, shot his back a look of mild annoyance before continuing also.
After a short while, Fei Li spoke up in a carefully hushed tone. “It’s bigger here than I was expecting. It will be more efficient if we search separately. Keep following this hallway, I’ll follow another.”
It was an instruction, not a request and so Fei Li immediately turned to leave. But he was stopped by Lu Qinyi’s hand at his wrist.
“Are you insane? You want to go around on your own like that? Forget it, you have to stay with me.”
Fei Li felt a surge of annoyance as he snatched his wrist back. Since when had he ever dealt with such humiliation, degraded to such a point? His temper finally blew. His voice was hushed but carried no less harshness because of it. “Do you think I’m capable of nothing now?”
Lu Qinyi raised a brow at the anger in Fei Li’s tone. No matter how he had poked, prodded and insulted, Fei Li had never had an expression like this. They didn’t have the time for this. They were in a vulnerable position like this and someone could come across them at any time, but out of consideration for the fact that Fei Li rarely showed such emotion, Lu Qinyi put on a patient tone.
“Do you think you’re still untouchable? Do you think no one would dare try to take advantage of you?” Lu Qinyi leaned closer as he lowered his voice further. His gaze held Fei Li’s. “Here, you’re not the mighty General Fei. You’re just another pretty flower to be plucked at someone’s whim. Tell me, do you think you could defend yourself the same as before, in clothing so restricting and frivolous? Song Lin likely could as that is the world she belongs to, but this is not the world you are from. Let’s say you could still defend yourself in such clothes. Could you do it without drawing attention and jeopardising everything we have worked on thus far?”
He paused before adding one last sentence.
“I’m not mocking you. So don’t let my efforts go to waste.”
…
Those words brought Fei Li to a complete stop as the sudden surge of emotion drained away in an instant, like sand blown by the wind.
No, Lu Qinyi hadn’t been mocking him. Throughout this entire situation, Lu Qinyi had only ever helped him and… protected him.
This too was Lu Qinyi protecting him, regardless of whether Fei Li wanted it or not. His decisions and actions were in consideration of the situation, rational judgements based off of the limitations Fei Li was under currently.
Lu Qinyi was a frustrating contradiction. Regardless of how he behaved, at a time like this he was the level headed one, not Fei Li. That was why no matter how ridiculously Lu Qinyi behaved, he was impossible not to take seriously.
Fei Li had made a misjudgement and been driven by emotion. The realisation struck quite deeply, as Fei Li hardly ever made misjudgments, and he was never driven by emotion in his work. It had been a long time since his emotions last led him astray.
Lu Qinyi could see the realisation in the other man’s eyes and leaned back again. He didn’t say anything further, only gestured with a nod of his head towards the direction they should go. Lu Qinyi began walking down the hallway, Fei Li following a step behind him.
Author’s Notes:
Still not dead! I had an overseas trip to South Korea as a part of a uni program, so it completely threw out my writing schedule. Its really lovely there though and the blossoms were very pretty~ I hope everyone is doing well.
Please note that the fruit LQ used to change his voice does not really exist, just a bit of creative liberty. Drinking bitter things giving you a lower voice is a myth, if you would like to do LQ’s party trick, please safely train your voice instead of drinking icky things. Although in Chinese medicine, bitter blends are used for a variety of health reasons.
I debated on Fu Fu’s name for a while. I put a lot of thought into it, as I hoped for it to be funny in both English (Fufu is definitely giving pampered poodle vibes), and Chinese (to be called Wealth Wealth or Rich Rich). I did what I could as a mere English native who could barely learn 5 Korean words after months of practice.
